Achuthanandan asks people to be beware of ‘Gorbachovs’ in state

Trissur (Kerala), Feb 28 (IANS) The rift in the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) between Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanadan and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan took an ugly turn Saturday with the former asking the people to be careful of “Gorbachevs in Kerala politics”. “The ocean called Soviet Union became empty because of certain Gorbachevs. In Kerala politics also, there are Gorbachevs. Such leaders have created a parallel economy. And if the sun was going to rise in the middle of the night, all can see the faces of certain leaders who stand neck deep in corruption,” Achuthanandan said at a meeting to launch a welfare fund for the diaspora.

Vijayan has been an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of irregularities in awarding a contract to Canadian firm SNC Lavalin when he was the state’s power minister in 1997.

The chief minister’s remarks follow the speech by Vijayan at the end of his state-wide march Wednesday, where he made an indirect attack on Achuthanandan.

Reciting an Urdu couplet about the strength of ocean waves, he asked party leaders not to behave like a child who collected seawater in a bucket and was disappointed when it did not create any waves.

“Sea waves take place only in the ocean and not in the bucket. Leaders get strength only if they are with the party and not when they stand alone,” said Vijayan.

Achuthanandan surprised many when he took part in the public meeting at the end of the march. Since the march began on Feb 2, he had on many few occasions made it clear that he would not participate but at the last moment, he is reported to have buckled under pressure.